Sale of spotted seatrout shall adhere to the following restrictions.

1. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3), a seafood dealer in a region where the commercial spotted seatrout season is closed pursuant to subsection 68B-37.005(3), F.A.C, may only possess or sell spotted seatrout within the first 30 days after the start of the applicable commercial spotted seatrout closed season, provided that such spotted seatrout were legally harvested during the applicable commercial open season specified in subsection 68B-37.005(2), F.A.C. The burden shall be upon any seafood dealer possessing spotted seatrout to establish the chain of possession from the initial transaction after harvest, by appropriate receipt(s), bill(s) of sale, or bill(s) of lading. Seafood dealers shall maintain the documentation establishing the chain of possession and promptly produce such documentation at the request of any duly authorized law enforcement officer.

2. (2) For purposes of this rule, the following counties are included in the regions:

   1. (a) Panhandle Region includes Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton, and Washington counties.
   2. (b) Big Bend Region includes Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Madison, Pasco, Pinellas (north of 28°09.350’ North Latitude), Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla counties.
   3. (c) Tampa Bay Region includes Hillsborough, Manatee (north of State Road 64), and Pinellas (south of 28°09.350’ North Latitude) counties.
   4. (d) Sarasota Bay Region includes Manatee County (south of State Road 64 and west of 82°22.500’ West Longitude), and Sarasota County (west of 82°22.500’ West Longitude and north of 27°04.727’ North Latitude).
   5. (e) Charlotte Harbor Region includes Charlotte, Collier (north of 26°15.227’ North Latitude), DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee (south of State Road 64 and east of 82°22.500’ West Longitude), Polk, and Sarasota (east of 82°22.500’West Longitude and south of 27°04.727’ North Latitude) counties.
   6. (f) Southwest Region includes Collier (south of 26°15.227’ North Latitude), Miami-Dade (within the boundary of Everglades National Park), and Monroe counties.
   7. (g) Southeast Region includes Broward, Miami-Dade (excluding Everglades National Park), and Palm Beach counties.
   8. (h) Indian River Lagoon Region includes Brevard, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, St. Lucie, and Volusia (south of Lytle Avenue/South Causeway (State Road A1A), south of State Road 44, and east of I-95) counties.
   9. (i) Northeast Region includes Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia (north and west of the Indian River Lagoon region, as described in paragraph (2)(h)) counties.
3. (3) A seafood dealer may import spotted seatrout from outside Florida during the open or closed commercial season. However, the burden shall be upon any person possessing imported spotted seatrout to establish the chain of possession from the initial transaction after harvest, by appropriate receipt(s), bill(s) of sale, or bill(s) of lading, and to show that such spotted seatrout originated from a point outside Florida and entered the state in interstate commerce. Failure to maintain the documentation establishing the chain of possession or to promptly produce such documentation at the request of any duly authorized law enforcement officer shall constitute a violation of this rule.

Rulemaking Authority Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. Law Implemented Art. IV, Sec. 9, Fla. Const. History–New 9-1-13, Amended 2-26-20, 4-1-26.